Settlin'
by The Poisoned Quill
Summary: Sarah's done settling for so so, and theres only one man that can win her heart. Songfic using Settlin' by Sugarland. Rated T for suggestiveness. R&R please


_Just something I thought up while doing my homework. I do not own labyrinth, things would have been much different if I had. Hope you enjoy. R&R please!_

_

* * *

_

_Fifteen minutes left to throw me together_

What was she supposed to wear? Did it even matter? She had fifteen minutes before her date would arrive, if he didn't show up late. She grabbed her fall back plan of the red dress she always wore. This would have to do.

_For mister right now, not mister forever_

She thought about her date that night as she did her hair. He was a player, she knew, but there was always that part of her that just wished things could be different. She knew he wasn't going to last, this was just a small thing for him, while for her it was a mission. She was twenty, she wanted to feel about someone how she'd felt at fifteen. She wanted that feeling of forever. This was not him.

_Don't know why I even try when I know how it ends_

He came in with his loose dress shirt and his million dollar smile. His dark hair was perfectly sculpted. She faked a smile. Why did she even bother? He kissed her cheek, she rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking. This was not going to end any different than she expected it to.

_Looking like another "Maybe we could be friends"_

Halfway through dinner she was bored out of her mind. He'd make for a nice friend, then again, so did any of the twenty dates her friends had hooked her up with over the last two years. In fact, it was her third boyfriend who'd suggested this one. An odd world was what she lived in.

_I've been leaving it up to fate_

_It's my life so it's mine to make._

"Cameron." She let the facade fall, she didn't know what she was doing here. All she knew was she wanted out. "I have a really early meeting tomorrow morning, is it possible you could drive me home?"

She had to stop letting her friends and chance introduce her to guys. She had to stop comparing them all to the one in her dreams. He wasn't ever coming to get her and she had to move on. She had to make that choice, and she would start tomorrow. She would enjoy her life and in the process, find a guy _she_ was interested in.

_I ain't settling for just getting by_

_I've had enough so so for the rest of my life_

She unlocked the door to her apartment, closed the door when she was all the way in the door. With a sigh, she stripped out of her dress, leaving it in the middle of her living room floor. As she slipped into her t-shirt and lounge pants, she thought about what she was going to do next.

She was going to publish her book, the one that was gathering dust in her drawer. _He _wouldn't like it, but she was done trying to avoid stepping on people's toes. People were going to see the story she had to tell because she was done being fine with a mediocre existence.

_Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high_

_Just enough ain't enough this time_

_I ain't settling for less than everything, yeah._

As for men, she grimaced, no more men she picked up at the store where she worked. She was going raise her bar just a little higher. She certain wouldn't set it on Jareth, because that wasn't happening. She was going to keep it within the parameters of this world. She would find a man who really wanted to stick around and knew how to handle his own in a fight. The kind that knew how to be tender and cruel, but one that she could depend on to be there when she woke up in the morning.

_With some good wine and my brand new shoes._

She looked down, realizing she never took off the shoes she'd bought the day before. They were sexy, even more so in contrast to the loose fitting lounge pants. With a laugh, she pulled out the bottle of red wine, poured herself a glass. She'd already had two at the restaurant and she knew how much it took to get her buzzed. Three.

_Gonna dance a blue streak around my living room_

She had a song in her head, one that was always in her head now. Tipsy from alcohol consumption, she made an exaggerated bow and started dancing with an invisible partner around her living room. "As the pain sweeps through, makes no sense for you..." Her voice was clear, the drink not effecting her completely yet.

_Take a chance on love and try how it feels_

_With my heart wide open yeah you know I will_

_Find out what it means to be the girl_

_Change her mind and change her world_

She heard a knock on the door, went to open it. There was no one there. Great, now she was hearing things. She went back to dancing, "I'll spin you valentine evenings..."

There was a laugh behind her. She whirled around, some how she could feel the alcohol's hold on her releasing. She no longer felt buzzed. He had been here, she knew it. She could smell him. How unfair of him, to put himself in reach and go away again.

But something had become clear to her by his presence. She wasn't gong to be able to be with anybody else. She was madly in love with him and if she wasn't going to settle any more than it had to be him.

_I ain't settling for just getting by__  
I've had enough so so for the rest of my life  
Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high  
Just enough ain't enough this time  
I ain't settling for anything less than everything_

"Jareth!" She called out to him, angry now that she could not enjoy her night in peace. It was unreasonable, because he'd given her the answers, but she was angry. "Jareth!"

"One shouldn't yell if one could merely ask." He rolled his eyes from the couch. She gave him a look that could wither less secure men.

"One wouldn't have to yell if another would stay around long enough for one to get a word in." She didn't like playing his games, especially when there was something on the line.

"Was there any real reason you screamed for me?" He looked as he always did, indifferent and sexy. "Or do you just enjoy irritating people?"

"I..." This was not the time to back out, she scolded herself when her voice failed. She wasn't going to settle, remember? That meant taking things into her own hands. She wanted everything he could offer, but first she had to ask. "I have something to say."

_I ain't settling for just getting by_

_I've had enough so so for the rest of my life _

_Tired of shooting too lo, so raise the bar high_

_Just enough and enough this time_

"Really?" He rose now, his height surprising her as it always did when he was close to her. She wasn't going to let him get to her, she reminded herself. This was all a disguise, he'd shown her how he truly was once. And he'd show her again, he would. But it seemed that she would have to make the first step. "And what is it you would have to say?"

She didn't think about it, not really. Just grabbed the ruffles of his shirt and pulled him down to her height. She crushed her lips against hers, smiled when she heard a moan escape his lips. His hands rested on her face as he returned her kiss as an active participant. Her hands kneaded in the material of his shirt, oh how she'd dreamed of this. His lips tasted of so many things, she wanted to memorize every one of those flavors. Actually, she wanted to memorize much more than that, the smells, the sensations, the chills that ran down her spine when either of them changed the angle of the kiss and deepened it.

When the need to breath overruled the need to continue, he rested his forehead on hers, smiled. "Well said."

She laughed breathlessly.

_I ain't settling for just getting by_

_I've had enough so so for the rest of my life_

_Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar hig_

_I ain't settling no, no, no, no, no, no, ohhh _

The sunlight was filtering in through the slits in the curtains. At first she didn't know where she was, but when the evening before came back to her, she had a pretty good idea. This was when she noticed she was not alone. There was arm draped over her very naked torso. At this she grinned, turned so as to barely disturb him.

He looked so peaceful in his sleep, you'd almost forget that he was capable of so many cruelties. This was the man who'd begged for her to stay five year before. And this was the man she knew she was madly in love with, no matter how irrational it was.

He opened one eye to look at her with fake suspicion. "You're going to want all kinds of things now, aren't you. Marriage, happiness, morning sex." She laughed at the last.

"Well." She tucked her tongue in her cheek, moved so that she was hovering over him. Their bodies were only inches apart. "If you're not able to meet my..." She purposely dropped her gaze for a moment, watched his eyes darken as she "accidentally" grazed him. "... purely reasonable needs, I'll just have to look elsewhere."

"Tease." He glared when she moved away from him. Before she knew it, she was pinned to the bed, his lips traced her collarbone before he looked into her eyes. "You better know what you're getting into, because if you say yes, you're not ever leaving."

She grinned, her heart stuttered at his so-unromantic-it-was-romantic proposal. Her lips caught his, she wouldn't have it any other way. When she pulled back, much to his dismay, she memorized everything. Naked, pinned down to his bed by two very strong arms attached to possibly the most incredible man she would ever meet. Then her eyes met his again. "I know _exactly_ what I'm getting into."

_So raise the bar high_


End file.
